Understanding free will and how it can impact our behavior

Do you control your destiny? Is it you who makes choices throughout the day, including what you will eat for dinner and which movie you will watch? Our everyday existence rests upon a seemingly unshakable foundation: that we possess free will, the ability to consciously dictate our actions and decisions.
However, as we delve deeper into unraveling the intricate connections between conscious experience and the brain, the molecular biology of the body, and various organs, including the brain, as well as the molecular biology of cells, the certainty of this assumption begins to waver.

Can physics rescue our concept of free will?

Classical physics asserts that all future states can be determined from previous states, implying a predetermined course of events. In other words, all future states are already predetermined. A deterministic interplay of cause and effect. However, this perspective is challenged by quantum mechanics. At the quantum level, particles exhibit wave-like behavior, and their positions are described by probabilities. It’s inherently probabilistic; for example, one can assign a probability value, such as a 16.66% chance for a die to land on six.

Double Split Experiment

Other atomic-scale entities, such as electrons, are found to exhibit the same behavior when fired towards a double slit. Additionally, the detection of individual discrete impacts is observed to be inherently probabilistic, which is inexplicable using classical mechanics.

Being probabilistic doesn’t imply randomness or unpredictability. Instead, it means we can make predictions with a certain probability or accuracy. Cause and effect still exist, but there is always a chance that the same cause may not consistently produce the same effect.
To add complexity, there can be multiple variables or causes. However, even if you account for all variables, you still cannot predict the effect with absolute accuracy; there will always be some margin of error.
As a jest, we can predict the sunrise with 99.9999% accuracy, yet there remains a 0.0001% chance that unforeseen events, such as a black hole devouring the sun or a celestial dislocation, could prevent it. While 0.0001% may still seem big, it can also be infinitesimally small.

But the existence of probabilities does not imply the existence of free will, where we autonomously make our own decisions.

Impact on our behavior

A life with less anger:
Anger can arise when you dislike how others have acted or treated you, or when they treat your loved ones unfairly.
Although it’s okay to feel angry, but you can delve deeper into the root causes of their actions.While it may sometimes be challenging to understand the causation, the effort to think rationally and seek understanding is valuable, preventing emotional drain.

A remedy for guilt and shame:
Guilt is rooted in the acknowledgment that one has committed a wrongdoing, potentially causing harm to others, whereas shame implies a personal flaw. Embracing the realization that not everything is within your control and that numerous external factors play a role can be emancipating.

An enlightened view of pride and privilege:
Whatever you achieve in life, whatever you have acquired, whether wealth or successful relationships, can be recognized as a confluence of factors beyond your control. Therefore, you are less likely to become a narcissist with inflated pride.

Increased empathy for others:
Understanding others’ situations and trying to feel them can increase empathy. Understanding means trying to know the causation, which can prompt you to act with compassion to offer help. It can also contribute to a high degree of self-awareness.

It can also have a different and potentially negative impact if it’s taken with a casual meaning.

Taking responsibility for your own actions:
You might start thinking that nothing is within your control, so why feel responsible for your actions? If everything is predetermined, why bother to act? The absence of free will is linked to the cause-and-effect relationship, and quantum mechanics posits that it is probabilistic. Your thoughts—how you think—have an impact on how you act, and how you act has an impact on others. It’s a feedback loop.

Meaning of life:
Thinking about the brain in terms of atoms, molecules, and chemical pathways can make life feel meaningless. One may fall into the fallacy of composition—no atoms are alive, so, therefore, nothing made of atoms is alive. However, being alive has a specific definition involving processes like respiration and growth. Form follows function, and different forms lead to different functions. Atoms don’t have the same properties as molecules, and similarly, a human body doesn’t have the same properties as individual atoms. At the system level, we are all interdependent and play specific, meaningful roles in terms of family, community, or the ecosystem.

Knowing about free will won’t change the meaning that evolution has given us. Most of the time, you are likely to forget it. You will still continue to cook and enjoy tomorrow’s food, gossip and laugh with friends, and work for your family or community.

It’s a different matter that some big tech companies want us to transform into transhumans by attaching chips or producing genetically modified humans, disrupting the natural process of evolution. Such transhumans may not need food and won’t experience human emotions. We derive meaning from our function, and altering our form will lead us out of existence.

Book Review: Tackling the Riddle of Free Will

Two provocative books explore the question of whether humans have control over their personalities, actions, and fates.

How can we decentralize the construction of brick-and-mortar houses?

This is why construction is so corrupt

Global Corruption Report 2005: Corruption in construction and post-conflict reconstruction

Diversity of Housing Design

No two buildings or skyscrapers are identical. Engineers can craft various sustainable designs and gain approval from the decentralized governance. These designs may incorporate diverse features such as supermarkets, playgrounds, office spaces adaptable for remote work, natural parks, and forests. Additionally, inclusive community amenities like schools and hospitals contribute to a well-rounded environment.

Free Market: Demand and Supply Transactions and Investments

Consider an investment scenario: a skyscraper costing 10 Crore, requiring 5000 people to contribute Rs 20,000 each. These investors, whether from different countries, states, or the same locality, each own shares worth Rs 20,000 in the property. Residents of the house pay for their shares through installments, facilitated by systems like Universal Basic Income (UBI), incurring a minimal 1-5% interest; these interest payments go to the investors. The entire housing construction supply chain is automated through smart contracts, ensuring efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Smaller skyscraper with smaller budgets can also be done, and also good for experimentation to start with.

To deter speculative practices and ghost housing, local rent seekers stake an amount upfront to secure rental reservations. The stake is only released upon the completion of the last ownership installment, akin to a prepaid plan.

If one use a native token instead of a stable coin, it’s challenging to pay installments with a fixed native token due to price fluctuations. The price of the native token can be determined through the price oracle, allowing you to pay the installment value in native tokens based on the stable coin’s value, without need of stable coin. The native token proves useful for designing incentive systems for governance and investments.

Governance Involvement

The governance structure involves various stakeholders, including those who have invested money, rent seekers, engineers, local communities, and environmentalists. Each stakeholder may have different voting power based on their expertise and integrity. Effective voting methods are implemented to make decisions collectively.

Reducing Bureaucracy through Governance Approval

Ensuring the safety, longevity, and earthquake resistance of housing is imperative. One also needs to put a halt to the unoptimized use of land, including issues like urban sprawl and ask for sustainable energy sufficient (e.g using solar panels) housing design. The governance body monitors the entire process, from building design approval to construction. If an engineer or worker deviates from the expected standards, the governance system has the authority to vote them out.

Transparent Pricing and Accounting of Materials

Material suppliers participate in a transparent bidding or auction process. The skyscraper’s governance approves material selections based on quality and pricing, ensuring accountability in the construction process.

Transparent Payment to Engineers and Workmanship

Transparent payment systems are in place for engineers and workers, promoting accountability and fair compensation.

Discouraging Landlord Issues

Landlords in cities have become a problem with inflated house rents and also contribute to wealth inequalities. To combat these issues, housing can be owned collectively by the community. To discourage traditional landlord practices without compromising housing investments, an incentive system within the smart contract can be implemented. For example, one can allocate a portion of the rent to the owner who has paid the full transaction fees for the room, and the remaining portion can be directed to a community treasury.

Empowering Communities: Decentralizing Supermarkets Through Public Ownership and Control

Traditionally, supermarkets have been hubs for a wide array of products spanning diverse categories, including but not limited to Fruits and Vegetables, Cooked Food, Grocery, Clothing, Shoes, Bags, Jewelry, Hardware, Electronics, Metal Hardware (such as cookware), Electrical items, House building materials (like cement and pipes), Nursery and Agricultural products (including biofertilizer), and Medicine.

What if we make supermarkets under public ownership, allowing communities to collectively govern and manage these essential retail spaces?

How does a supermarket simplify things? By consolidating a diverse range of retail items into one convenient location, it achieves this goal while also generating various other advantages. Here’s a breakdown:

1. Centralized Accessibility: Supermarkets serve as a one-stop destination where consumers can access a comprehensive array of products, spanning from groceries to clothing and electronics. This centralized approach streamlines the shopping experience, saving time and effort for customers.
2. Labor Cost Reduction: Supermarkets leverage automation to minimize labor costs. Automated checkouts, inventory management systems, and other technological innovations contribute to operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
3. Regulatory Ease: The concentration of products within a supermarket makes regulatory compliance more manageable. Regulations related to labeling, quality control, and other standards can be consistently applied in a centralized manner.

Example of Community Governance that corporate governance unlikely to do it:

To illustrate, consider the role of community governance in shaping the practices of a supermarket:

• Reducing Plastic Usage: Community governance can swiftly enforce decisions to eliminate plastic bags and encourage the use of sustainable packaging. This proactive approach aligns with environmental goals, reducing the ecological footprint of the supermarket.
• Promoting Reusability: Empowered by community-driven initiatives, supermarkets can facilitate the use of reusable containers. Shoppers are encouraged to bring their containers for items like beverages and cooking oil, contributing to a reduction in single-use plastic.
• Supporting Local Production: Community governance can actively endorse and support local producers, ensuring their products are featured in the supermarket at fair prices. This strategy fosters a more equitable marketplace, circumventing the potential monopoly that corporate supermarkets might impose.
• Curbing Fast Fashion: Community governance can implement policies favoring sustainable and ethically produced clothing. This may involve supporting local designers, promoting clothing recycling programs, and discouraging the sale of fast fashion items known for their detrimental environmental and ethical impacts.
• Promoting Healthy Eating: The community, through governance mechanisms, can encourage the stocking of nutritious, minimally processed foods in the supermarket by taxing or regulating unhealthy food. This initiative aims to combat the negative health effects associated with ultra-processed foods, polished cereal grain and others, contributing to a healthier community overall.
• Repair Services: Promoting the repair of electronic products, such as smartphones, aligns with the ‘right to repair’ movement and contributes significantly to sustainability. Encouraging the repairability of electronic devices empowers consumers to extend the lifespan of their gadgets, reducing electronic waste and the environmental impact associated with manufacturing new products.
• Sustainable Housing: A community-run supermarket fosters a sustainable housing community, accommodating 5000 or more people in pockets without inducing urban sprawl. This approach conserves space, preserving spaces for forests.
• Profit sharing: Supermarkets and various supply chains can each have their decentralized governance token, enabling different stakeholders to participate and receive incentives based on their contributions. Consumers, for instance, can receive a monthly Universal Basic Income (UBI), empowering them to make purchases and contribute to poverty reduction or elimination. The token’s value can be collectively determined by the community or stakeholders through consensus, where a token design with fair incentive system results in greater profitability.

In essence, the community run supermarket becomes a reflection of community values, responding to environmental concerns, supporting local businesses, and promoting sustainable practices by decreasing negative externalities. This community-driven model stands in contrast to corporate supermarkets, which may prioritize profit over such community-centric considerations.

Supermarkets, when governed by the community, have the potential to be more socially responsible, environmentally friendly, and supportive of local economies. This scales globally, as blockchain works in a borderless manner.

Regulation doesn’t mean governance will control prices, control exports or imports, and disrupt the free-market system of discovering prices for goods and services through demand and supply. It is about making the supply chain more efficient and handling negative externalities.

Community Kitchen Proposal

The Community Kitchen initiative aims to bring culinary experiences by fostering a diverse range of both nutritious and delicious meals. The current lamentable state of hostel and hotel food prompts an exploration into the roots of the problem, attributing it to governance issues and the influence of capitalism on the food industry.

Key Components of the Incentive System:

1. Cook Appointment and Compensation: The heart of the kitchen lies in the cook, and their appointment and fair compensation are crucial for maintaining culinary standards.
2. Food Quality Oversight by Experts: Incorporating food science experts ensures a stringent quality check, elevating the overall nutritional and taste profile of the meals.
3. Provision of Essential Groceries: A seamless supply chain for necessary groceries guarantees a well-stocked kitchen, essential for preparing diverse and wholesome meals.
4. Rent Payment through Governance: Rent payments facilitated through a transparent governance or community ownership model for kitchen spaces ensure a stable and conducive environment for culinary pursuits.
5. Automation and Cooking Tools: Investing in kitchen automation and providing appropriate cooking tools not only enhances efficiency but also encourages innovative and diverse culinary creations.
6. Security Measures: Implementing robust security measures protects both the kitchen rooms and tools, preventing misuse or theft and ensuring the sustainability of the community kitchen.
7. Consumer Participation in Governance: Empowering consumers to contribute to the decision-making process by aiding in the appointment of food science experts and cooks promotes expertise and active engagement. The more involvement in governance, the greater the voting power, fostering a system where competence and commitment are rewarded.

By addressing these key elements in the incentive system, the Community Kitchen strives to create an environment where the preparation of food becomes a collaborative and rewarding venture, promoting both health and culinary diversity.

The Community Kitchen serves as a particularly valuable resource for women seeking remote employment, offering a solution that helps them save time on cooking and dish washing. This communal space not only addresses the practical challenges of balancing work and household responsibilities but also creates a supportive environment for those engaged in remote jobs.